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Saturday, October 31, 2015

War

"Various reports suggested that a mechanical problem could have played a
role. Security sources said an initial examination of the crash site
showed the plane went down due to a technical fault, Reuters reported.
Ria Novosti quoted a source in Sharm el-Sheikh airport as saying that
the crew of the A321 appealed to the airport’s technicians due to
“engine start failures several times over the past week”."

"There is also the fact that the American military simply doesn’t matter, which
reduces concern with whether it can fight and who it can fight. It doesn’t defend
the US, since there is nothing to defend it against. (What country has the remotest
possibility of invading America?) So the military is used for what are essentially
hobbyist wars, keeping Israel happy, providing markets for the arms companies,
and for social engineering: we have girl crews who would be a disaster at damage
control, but we assume that there will never be any damage to control."

Ouch.

"Washington seems not to realize that it wields far less military power than
it thinks it does, and that the power it does wield is ever less useful than
before. As a land power, it is very weak, being unable to defeat Russia, China,
or peasants armed with rifles and RPGs. Air power has regularly proved indecisive."

Double ouch.

Soldiers earn more than their young, uneducated counterparts in the marketplace. They are risking their lives more.